


The Only Heaven I'll Be Sent To Is When I'm Alone With You

by SoftKing



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Vikings, Deaf Clint Barton, Fanart, Found Family, Graphic Description, Howard Stark Warning, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Kidnapping, Living Together, M/M, Mute Bucky Barnes, Nudity, Paralysis, Past Abuse, Permanent Injury, Piercings, Protective Steve Rogers, Seduction, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing Clothes, Sharing a Bed, Slight Language Barrier, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Steve Rogers is Not a Virgin, Steve is like upper 20's-30 yo, Tattoos, Tony is lower to middle 20's, Torture, Warlord!AU, but he's been inventing shit for years, canonical character injury, fuck homophobes they aren't here and if they are, nothing between main characters, so here's the deal.., steve is seducing tony on accident, they will die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21697006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftKing/pseuds/SoftKing
Summary: After Tony's mother passes, Howard's treatment of him gets increasingly worse. Tony decides to escape to the Northern Mountains, where the only life is said to be barbarians that kill any they see, a ruthless army led by a group of indestructible lords who have never lost a battle.Now Tony's no battle-warrior but he can defend himself and is the smartest person hes ever met, he knows he can bring something valuable to these lords. Late one night, he takes his fastest horse, enough supplies for the trip and as many of his blueprints he can hold. After many moons, he finally arrives at a large iron gate, solid enough that he cannot pull it open and ties his horse off to scale the wall - only to come face to face with a painted red overwhelmingly large man that escorts him inside to meet the team and decide his fate. While he desperately tries to convince the man (Thor) that he is no threat, he is silently led into a meeting room where he meets the one they call "Captain". Can things get worse before they get better, or will Tony be forced back home?
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 75
Kudos: 246





	1. Establishing a Relationship (Fanart)

**Author's Note:**

> Well folks... If you can't find it. Write it. Draw it. Imagine it. Fuck it.   
> This'll be one of my few (and first) long series with fanart and fanfic.  
> Enjoy and I'll be uploading the first chapter soon! Kudos or comments/criticism are appreciated! <3


	2. Introduction to Life and Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's mother is gone. What can he do to escape his shitty home life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abusive behavior and violence in this first chapter, you can skip to the first break and be just fine.

“I’m afraid Maria has passed, Mr. Tony. I am deeply sorry for your loss, sir.”

Jarvis stood in the doorway of Tony’s room and watched the young man's face as it fell, tears threatening to form in the corners of his eyes. He turned away, scrubbing at his eyes and muttering a ‘thanks J’ in a small voice when Jarvis stepped closer to run a hand through his hair and pull him into a half hug.

“I’ll leave you be for now, sir.”

Tony kept his head down as his servants footsteps grew faint until they stopped altogether. His shoulders hunched and he began to shake with silent sobs. Tony’s mother was one of the only people left in his life that truly loved him, aside from Jarvis of course, now she was gone. His mind swirled with everything her death would leave him with; his father’s growing alcoholism, his uncle Obie’s increasing interest in his inventions and the money he would inherit. He wasn’t ready. She wasn’t supposed to leave yet. In many ways he felt like a child, relying on his mother to keep him safe, crying over her loss and hiding away in his room even when called for dinner. No one blamed him of course, no one who saw what the Stark family was like out of the public eye.

Only a few weeks had passed since his mother's death when he finally had enough. Jarvis had been subtly providing him with containers of water and nonperishable food so he could live in his room and avoid the man stalking the halls, just waiting for an opportunity. He still forgot to eat, instead burying himself in his work, designing new weapons, until he had a surplus of both.

_Crash_

Tony stood frozen in the kitchen, blurry hyper-focused eyes fixed on his father, who had just thrown a plate through one of their extravagant windows. The damage itself wasn’t bad, shattering one pane and cracking the few around it, but the air was thick and Tony could already feel his heartbeat in every part of his body. Howard moved to another cabinet, wrenching the wood off its hinges and casting it in his son’s direction along with all the china he could reach. The harsh impact of the door against the wall behind him shocked him out of his stupor and his body took off, leaving anything but instinct behind.

“Useless fucking piece of shit!” Howard's voice carried over the rushing of blood in his ears. He couldn’t hear if his father was following. He didn’t care. He needed to leave, now. He nearly crashed into Jarvis when his bedroom door opened and he careened through.

“Mr. Tony, are you quite alright?” Tony drew in shaking breaths, adrenaline still coursing through his body and tensing up when J gently touched his forearms to gain his attention.

“I-I can’t do this anymore J…” His eyes searched every part of the room, skipping over his caretaker’s pained expression. “I just can’t, I want to leave, I don’t care where just away from here.” Jarvis nodded grimly, releasing his arms and retrieving a satchel from a nearby closet and tossing it onto the bed. “I’m afraid I agree, sir. I am only glad you’ve made this decision now and on your own.”

They began silently loading supplies into his bags, Tony’s heart rate jumping back up when the house settled, but focused on leaving. They snuck downstairs, past the now unoccupied kitchen, outside the house and to the stables. Tony almost objected, some staff would still be there, but Jarvis told him that no one would hesitate to help him, they knew this day would come. A dark skinned woman was waiting outside the barn doors, hair pulled back meticulously in contrast to the workman's clothes she had on.

“I heard a commotion was going on in the house, figured you might need this.” Friday stepped to the side and pushed at the door revealing a Chestnut Blanket Appaloosa, Tony’s favorite horse. “Essam will keep you safe, sir. She missed you these past few weeks.”

If you looked at her for too long, you could see the slight shake of Friday’s hands as she passed the reins to Jarvis, her eyes betraying her sadness at his departure. The three loaded up, helping Tony onto the horse and leading the way to the entrance.

Jarvis stopped them at the gate, producing a map out of seemingly nowhere and tucking it in with the young man’s blueprints, “You’ll be needing this, it’s the best I could find for detailing of the surrounding areas. Please take care of yourself sir.”

Tony’s vision blurred yet again, leaning down off the horse to give J a hug and the same to Friday, “I’ll be careful, I promise. Thank you both… But, what will you tell father after I am gone?”

“Don’t you worry about that, we’ll take care of Howard.” Friday winked and placed a hand on his leg, squeezing lightly. “Go now, as far north as you can.”

Tony paused, old wives tales coming to mind, “You’re sure? North?”

“It’s the only place he won’t be able to find you. Trust us.” Tony sighed, they had never steered him wrong before, he trusted them more than anyone else in the world. He brought the reins down and started his journey north, unable to resist turning his head back for one final look at his home. His mother was gone. It was time to start over, somewhere his father had no influence.

* * *

The sun had set and risen many times since he left home. He pulled his wool cape around himself more firmly, the air had gained a bite in the past few days and as reluctant as he had been, Tony had built a campsite with a small fire in it for those nights. It felt like he was admitting he wasn’t ready for this journey, he should have brought more layers, waited for a little longer, done something else. It was too late for regrets.

“Shit!” He forgot to bring something of his mothers! In the rush of everything he forgot, how could he forget? It’s not like she had been gone that long, how could he have been so stupid! He blinked frustrated tears away and flopped heavily onto his side, as though that small amount of pain could be his repentance. Curling in on himself, he drifted off to Essam’s soft breathing, a nice constant to keep him tethered to his life and where it was going.

* * *

The next morning proved uneventful, packing up and riding until the sun was gone, occasionally checking his map and the North Star’s location in the sky when night came. He was definitely heading in the right direction if the weather was any indication. He now wore his deep green cloak at all times, long black trousers and high boots protecting his legs, a red linen tunic that was opened at the neck. He fiddled with his gold piercings, turning them over and over again as the woods got thicker, the air got colder and the days seemed simultaneously longer and shorter. After a while, he stopped counting, his days blending together.

Now he was paused at a fork in the path he was following, looking around helplessly as he searched for any marker on the map in his hands that matched his surroundings. Just my luck, he thought, at least I can’t get more lost. Grimacing, he pulled his horse to the right, unsatisfied at his own decision but without much choice. He made sure to pay attention to each turn, marking it down on the back of his map in case he needed to turn back. He had just turned onto a larger path when he hit a clearing, he glanced up after making his mark and gasped. Around 30 yards away was a large iron gate, intricate in detail but sturdy as hell, at least it looked like it. Tony dismounted from his horse and approached the gate that was easily three times his size, trailing eyes at the rock surrounding it, trying to find a way in. He brought a hand up and knocked on the gate three times… Nothing.

“I didn’t come all this way to not even get in, dammit.” He placed a foot in one of the dips in the concrete and pulled himself up toward the top of the gate. His hands were protected by his gloves but he could still feel the rock cutting into his palms as he hefted himself up and over the rock wall. His feet hit wood as he dropped onto an inside platform, right in front of someone.

 _Shit_.

The man in front of him was at least half a foot taller than him, maybe more, heavily muscled and strapped in brown leather armor. Three red stripes went over one of his electric blue eyes, short blonde hair with a lightning bolt sheared on the side of his head gave his already intimidating presence even more weight. Tony fell backwards against the wall and nearly tipped over the edge if not for the man taking hold of his cloak and pulling him back, then securing his grip with a hand around his bicep. He was led down a set of steps before he regained his voice and tried to pull away from the now bruising grip, “There’s no need for you to be so rough, big guy. Loosen up a little, yeah?” he laughed nervously.

The man stopped and glanced at him with a hint of a smile on his lips, shifting his grip a bit but still leading on. Tony glanced around nervously and took a chance, it seemed like this mountain of a man could understand him so he might as well, “Where, uh, are you taking us then? Nowhere bad I hope?”

“No, you will face the team first.” His imposing counterpart said in what was probably supposed to be a nice tone. Tony squirmed in the hold as they approached one of the larger wooden cabin-like, the lack of people inside the gates feeding the part of his brain that was screaming about impending doom. The doors opened as they approached, two guards greeting the blonde in another language, the three talking for a moment before one guard left in the direction of the gate and the other led them down a short hallway, opening another set of double doors. The large man gestured for Tony to enter first, then closing the door behind them. Inside was a large rectangular table, surrounded by muscular men and women alike, all of whom looked downright terrifying, covered in different colored paints and armor. His escort stepped before them and announced something, everyone turned to look at him and spotted Tony, setting down their weapons and standing up in their place.

“Now you tell us why you are here,” Lightning bolt guy says, “And why you felt the need to break in.” 

_Well_ , Tony thinks to himself. _I’m fucked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Essam - arabic for protector  
> Tony will get to be his little shit self here, but he's in a very complicated place and is pretty scared right now. The whole team is multilingual, so no need for translations, Thor is just intimidating at first glance. Next time we meet the main team and dig a little deeper into what tony's plans are! Thanks for reading, comments/kudos/criticism is appreciated <3


	3. Not So Bad?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tries to explain himself and finds that life in the North isn't as horrendous as he was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentioned Child abuse again sorry gang, we aren't out of the woods with trauma and tony :/

He crosses his arms across his chest defensively, answers short and voice clipped.

Name? Tony. No, no last name.

Why are you here? Seeking sanctuary.

Why climb the fence instead of waiting for an answer? Impatience. It was cold out and he traveled far.

That honesty gained him some raised eyebrows, hand signals exchanged between a man dressed in a garish purple leather and two other members catching his eye, the purple man wiggling his fingers playfully when he catches him staring. He leans to his left and whispers something to metal arm guy next to him, whose stony exterior slips, contorting in an attempt to not laugh. The lantern lights reflect off the metal arm as the man’s shoulders begin to shake, hiding his face with one hand and shoving his companions shoulder with the other. A woman with long red braided hair to their right rolls her eyes and leans forward when the question and answer game resumes, eyes focusing on Tony sharply… too close to investigative for his comfort.

What can you bring to our community? Defensive capabilities. Don’t make weapons of war anymore.

An intellectual then? Obviously.

What is your study of choice? Engineering, mechanics.

Interest in mathematics? A slight man with glasses asks this, obviously trying to bridge the gap between them, eyes lighting up when Tony nods his affirmation.

Example of knowledge? Brought blueprints but somebody left his horse at the gate with his belongings.

A man sat directly across from the entrance, long braided blonde hair and shaved sides gives Lightning Bolt a ‘what the fuck’ look and calls someone from a neighboring room to him, whispering into their ear and sending them off just as quickly as they arrived. Purple man watched the metal mans hands next to him gesture wildly, barking out a laugh as soon as they stilled and was rewarded with metal slapped over his mouth and a firm shake of his head. The man who had spoken before shot a glare in their direction and swept his cloak back slightly to move past his comrades, Tony’s throat clicked dry at the sight. Tony could already tell he was large but when the man’s cloak shifted back to reveal the rest of his body… he was absolutely ripped.

Blue paint in an arrow over his right eye matched an ‘n’ over his pectoral and a bridge-like symbol peaked out from under his leather Pteruges. Slits in the leathery fabric revealed collums of thigh muscles, flexing lightly with each step and shift of the man's stature. Tony let his eyes drift over strapping abs, noticeably lingering on a red tattoo sprawled just above his belly button until a pair of bracer-covered arms overlayed his equally beefy chest, concealing yet another red hook shaped tattoo along his bottom of his pec. Metal and leather covered his heart and vital regions, along with his shoulders, he noticed as his gaze darted back up to the man’s inquisitive expression, waiting with a bemused expression.

“I’m sorry about that Tony, I can assure you that your belongings will be taken care of,” his voice was surprisingly refined, plenty deep and gave a slight flush to Tony’s face and ears, “You may call me Captain Rogers, the man next to you is Thor.” He moves closer to the pair, allowing Tony a clearer look at the intricate symbols on his arm guards, “I’ve sent someone to bring in your things and your horse to our stables. And if you wouldn’t mind…” he leans against the table, lids low, “We want to know _why_ you came here, more specifically if you wouldn’t mind.”

Tony spoke his next words slowly, picking them as carefully as possible to keep information to himself, “My relationship with my father has always been, let’s say rough, recently things got worse. A lot worse. Actually my mother died and kind of pushed him over the edge… I don’t really like to talk about it. In fact I hate talking about it. It’s just-”

The man held both hands up in surrender, “Okay, I understand. However, for us, this is a very serious accusation and while we may not know your father, there are certain actions we’ll have to take to ensure your safety. If this is true, we would consider him banished from our society as a whole, ostracized from any future communications or any shared technology. It is very rare that Wakanda allows people to join their collective kingdom, but we are instructed to keep our options open. Is there any way you can prove this without a doubt, an eyewitness or something of the like?”

Tony bristled, they want undeniable proof? Fuck it. Give it to them. He wrangled off his cloak and tunic, twisting his body to reveal a mass of black and blue lines and splotches covering his entire back, “Courtesy of my father not long before I left home. Decided I needed a trip down the stairs for asking too many questions.”

He slipped his tunic back on, turning to face this team once more. Leaving his cloak crumpled upon the floor and ignoring the cold as best as he could, “That proof enough for you?”

“Yeah, that’s more than enough.”

The team at the table was no longer relaxed or performing small absentminded fidgets, sympathetic eyes turned his way but he avoided them nonetheless. Rogers turned to face them, switching back to what Tony could only identify as something his mother used to tell tales about, the whole table animated and speaking nearly at once was a bit dizzying. The person who had been sent off returned with what looked like one of the blueprints that had been in his bag, displaying it on the table and saying something before leaving again. The table dissolved into deeper conversation, so he just stared a place at the table where the wood had splintered and let his mind wander, barely registering the change of language back to one he could understand.

“-he MDU, which is where we all stay. We’ll have your things moved there for now, you show a lot of potential and as a newcomer, you’ll have access to our materials under supervision. I’ll take you there in a moment, that is if you’re okay with that. Tony?”

He jolts back into the present, “Uh yeah that’s fine, sure.” _I have no idea what just happened_.

“Follow me then,” He’s already walking toward the entrance and holding the door, Tony gives a last look at the group around the table and follows, “It’s to the left, rather large building in town, hard to miss.”

The sun’s glow had started to show itself over the mountain tops and signs of the towns population were finding their way in the pairs path, just further into the compound than he had been able to see before. Early risers and shopkeepers called, “Heill _, Foringi_!” as they passed, getting a warm smile in return from his escorter and a slightly confused wave from Tony. The people seemed unreasonably happy to live in the supposedly war ridden and dead area of the North he had heard about throughout his life. Especially considering how early it was out.

_This is… surprisingly nice_ , he thought to himself, a glimmer of hope that quickly squashed itself at the larger groups of people heading their way.

The captain walked carefully through the growing crowds, glancing over his shoulder every once and a while, shepherding him through the streets with ease. Only then did Tony realize that he could barely hear the footsteps of the large man in front of him, the deliberate steps avoiding dips or curves in his path that might otherwise impede him. Although the sun was steadily rising into the sky, bringing a radiant warmth on the parts of Tony’s skin it could reach, it wasn’t enough to keep the chill from biting at his fingers and nose. As more people flooded the streets, looking to make purchases from the stands lining the roads; travelling to work, transporting animals, you name it, it was happening, Tony walked closer and closer behind the Captain, eventually resorting to catching a handful of the deep brown cloak in front of him and bringing the large man’s head as close to his own as he would allow.

“Rogers, I can’t keep up with you through this crowd and I’m thinking I’m going to freeze my ass off before we get to the bunker.”

Blue met brown and his face softened. “Here,” He reached backward and guided Tony to stand closer to him, placing an arm behind his shoulders and bringing the warm clothing to drape around his shoulders. Although they soon left the crowd, the arm stayed around him and honestly, Tony wasn’t about to complain. The captain however, noticed after their entrance to a residence reminiscent of his mansion at home and removed it with an apology too polite for Tony to get upset with him. The first floor had a communal kitchen, complete with a wood oven and stove top that nearly put his own to shame, a large living room adorned with comfortable places to sit or sleep and a strange glass on a wall, each room containing a large fireplace.

“There are three suites to each floor, excluding this one of course, each suite has a washroom, kitchen and other amenities,” filling the silence while the pair made their way to a pair of doors against a far wall, which opened to reveal a small mirrored room with buttons on the inside wall. Tony hesitated for a moment before following him in, messing with his hair in the reflective surface, trying to make sense of the mess.

Rogers caught his eye in the reflection and smiled when Tony’s hands shot back down to his sides, “Oh, you’ll love this. You said you’re an inventor, right? Watch,” the doors closed and he pressed one of the buttons on the wall, and Tony’s center of gravity shifted down, feeling the room move upward. Apparently his confusion was blatant enough to warrant concern and an explanation, “We’ve been allies with Wakanda for centuries, their advancements in technology has been incredible, the next time their king visits I can introduce you,” he paused when the doors opened and they exited onto another floor, “His sister would love to have another person to bounce ideas off of, right now all she’s got is Banner, Bucky and myself.”

“How does it work? Who’s Banner? Why have I never heard of Wakanda if they are so advanced? There’s a-”

“Just a moment, I understand that you’re curious but I have a feeling it would be better for you to start small and work your way up. First, let’s get you settled in,” He led them down an impersonal hall, held a card up to a light on the side of the door which opened with a rush of cool air.

Rogers stepped in first, moving inside to start a fire deep on the other side of the room, his crouched figure almost enveloping the entire mouth of the fireplace. He reaches for slabs of wood as the fire builds, feeding the flame until it was a suitable size, moving to one side and waving Tony down beside him. Tony complied, rubbing warmth back into his hands while Rogers moved in the corner of his eye. A solid warmth settled on his back and he brought his hands up to his shoulders, burying them in the soft fur cloak he had felt on the way to his home now.

When he looked up at the Captain in question the man merely shrugged, “You left yours back in the meeting room, you need it more than I do.”

“Thank you, Captain Rogers.”

“Call me Steve here, my room is on the same floor as yours anyway. I’ll be back to get you for dinner, get some rest if you can.” The door swooshes closed behind him as he departs and Tony regards the fire once again. He pulled the cloak closer to himself and buries his face into it, the heady scent of musk and spice mixing with the woodsmoke in the room, relaxing him further. Eyes drooping, he absentmindedly rubbed the soulmark on his right pec to soothe the twinge he felt at being alone again. It had been strange to run away from everything you were, only to find the place you feared to be this welcoming.

_Strange_ , he thought, _for a place you’d never been to feel so much like home_.

Even stranger was the warmth he still felt in his mark from when the captain first touched him, lulling him into a sense of security he hadn’t felt in months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Foringi” - Captain  
> “Heill” - A good luck or morning  
> I'll add translations at the end of each chapter, but as the languages are old as balls, they won't be very accurate. Clint is deaf and Bucky is mute, so I'll add ASL translations when necessary too. Perhaps next we shall meet the team next?  
> Drop a kudos or comment if you enjoyed, thank you for reading <3


	4. Starting Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And how does our Captain and his team feel about this?

In what may have been an attempt to obscure the amount of time spent with their newcomer, Steve had taken a quick sprint across the compound and re-arrived at the meeting room in under a minute. Dodging civilians would be the easy part of his return, the difficult part came next.

“So… that was a damn quick acceptance, Captain. Any reason in particular you let him in that easy?” He had barely closed the double doors behind him when the quips from inside began.

“Stand down, Banner, even you have to admit those schematics were impressive for someone with his lack of experience. I’m sure you agree, don’t you Banner?” Thor’s chair was angled in such a way that he had Banner’s legs in his lap and most of their bodies pressed together, Thor leaned his head onto the doctors shoulder and rested his eyes on the man’s profile.

“Well- I mean, yeah it is really impressive. I think that with… access to higher technology he could advance us much further than if it were just me,” he tilts his head to Thor’s but keeps his gaze on the captain. “You know I’ve been looking for someone to take over defense so I can focus on our biotechnology, Shuri really wants us to get there on our own and can only help so much, especially with her brother’s recent inheritance.”

The rest of the group sounded out their agreement, mentioning they should send a gift to the family. Steve reluctantly retook his seat, knowing damn well his friends had more to say on the recent addition. Just as suspected, Bucky slapped him on the back and signed ‘Potential doesn’t have shit to do with it, buddy. Least you can do is admit you thought he was handsome, and tell Clint to put his damn aids in, he won’t listen to me.’

“Don’t swear, Buck. Clint,” he reached around and flicked the archer on the shoulder, curling a finger into a ‘c’ and tapping it above his ear. “Put them in, you know we need you for these meetings.”

“I just want you to know I’m only doing this so that I can hear everyone make fun of you for having goo-goo eyes at the new guy.” The rest of the table leaned toward the center, various calls of ‘aww Stevey’s got a crush!’ and ‘Goo-goo eyes, huh?’ had the man in the center rolling his eyes.

The majority of his team were in relationships, the better part of them with each other. They had teased him while single, so they wouldn’t let new material go to waste. Unfortunately, being your territory’s openly single leader left you an easy target for jokes and marriage proposals alike, especially for nearby settlements that wished for protection. It had become difficult to find someone who did not fear or idolize him, the only real candidates were his civilians or teammates, both options had inherent morality issues. Then there was the soulmate issue. Do you wait until you find them to start dating or just date whoever you want? There’s no guarantee that you and your soulmate will stay together forever, plenty of people have found love outside of them or been fine on their own. Steve had tried dating for years and found it just wasn’t for him.

“Alright, okay, we can either get back to the original purpose of this meeting or we can dismiss early for dinner.” Steve’s tone held no room for negotiation, knowing things would only get more off track the longer he let them go on for.

“I’m going to agree with the Captain on this, I have more important things to do that make fun of his geriatric ass with you guys.” Natasha pushed her chair away with a smirk and headed for the doors.

“Dismissed, then.”

* * *

The group made their way back to their barracks slowly, impeded by people loading their arms full of homemade dinners, insistent that they let the newcomer try some of everything. It was unsurprising that word had spread so quickly of the interesting young man who had been personally escorted to the main squadrons quarters, the Asgaurdians and humans had a tight-knit community of acceptance and care that made for a welcoming environment for those that sought sanctuary, as they had all known what it felt like to be alone and abandoned.

They of course accepted everything they were graciously given, promising to share and let them know what Tony enjoyed and what he disliked. Thankfully as they went further in, less people offered them food as they were already overloaded as it was, simply wishing them a good night instead. Shuffling their way inside and setting everything down on the kitchen table was an adventure of its own, moving around each other with practiced ease and retrieving their respective bowls and eating unticels. Sam stepped back from the idle chatter and let them know he was going to get Scott.

“I’ll go with you, Tony should be hungry too.” Steve turned to the gathering around the table before leaving, “Do not make him feel unwelcome, joke all you want but please find your limit today guys.”

Clint blew a raspberry in his direction while the rest simply waved him off, all seemingly unconcerned aside from Bucky, who gave him a small salute and an encouraging smile. As soon as he and Sam were out of earshot, he turned to Steve with a concerned face.

“Buddy, you know I trust you with my life and all that, but are you sure about this guy?” They stepped into the elevator, pushing the buttons for the 4th and 5th floor, “We’ve had traitors from outside before, but none of them have been made a team member before.”

“I’ve just got a feeling about him, Sam. He’ll take to the technology just like Bruce did, maybe even better.”

They came to a halt as the doors opened and he exited, nodding his leave to the other man. He stopped by his own room first, discarding his armor onto its stand and pulling on more casual but still protective leathers. Leaving his shield and battle sword but strapping a dagger to his outer thigh, he picked out a few smaller items of clothing in case their guest wanted to change and re entered the plain grey hallway.

“Tony?” He rapped his knuckles against the door a few times and waited for a response, receiving none he used his pass to enter the room, finding it dark as the fire had mostly died out. He moved toward the fireplace first, handling the still warm embers carefully as he cleared an area out and assembled more firewood, lighting the tinder and blowing lightly into it until the blaze filled the room with warmth. Looking over his shoulder at the bed, he spotted an occasionally shivering person shaped lump in the center of the bed. He sets the extra clothes on the edge of the bed and brushed his hand against the form, using the back of his hand to move the young man’s upper half. A hand shot out of the blankets and wrapped around his wrist as he scrambled backwards up the bed and held Steve’s hand at a distance from his body, now visibly trembling despite his harsh grip.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay,” Steve let his hand hang limply, lowering himself to his knees at the side of the bed and looking up into the man’s eyes, “Everything’s alright, I just wanted to see if you were ready to eat. You’re okay, Tony.”

The grip momentarily tightened before releasing completely, hands running through his short brown hair and tension bleeding from his body slowly. He met Steve’s eyes, gaze flicking down to where the leader was on his knees and shifted himself toward the end of the bed sheepishly.

“Okay, get up off the floor, big guy. You said there’s food?” Steve nodded and rose hesitantly.

He patted the spare clothes he had set on the bed, “Brought you some heavier clothes if you need them, I’ll be outside when you’re ready.” 

Tony let his feet touch the floor, the cold sending a shiver up his spine as he grabbed the nearby change of clothes. He heard the door swish open and closed as the captain left. Deciding to hold onto what little of his home he had left, he left the clothes on his bed and donned the deep brown cloak he had left near the fire, soaking in the warmth it provided for a moment before following the captain into the hallway.

* * *

When the pair returned the team had already assembled around the table, engaged in a discussion of which ‘civvy’ had the best dish, comparing previous performance and quality in great detail. A chorus of greetings reached them as they took their seats, Steve on his left and the doctor from before on his right, who introduced himself as Bruce Banner and passed a pot to the blonde on his right. Almost immediately after, he was being questioned by everyone at the table as to his favorite foods and had several containers shoved toward him, all claiming it would expand his ‘poor southern palate’. Tony politely answered what he could but was reluctant to begin eating, instead just taking a bite or two of each item and sipping at the wine and honey mead he was offered. 

Another round of greetings and alcohol repeated itself as Sam and Scott entered, the latter of which looked sleep rumpled and a bit grumpy. They sat together across from Tony and Steve, easily integrating into the current conversation, bumping shoulders and exchanging glances between bites of food.

When the conversation hit a lull, Tony took the time to look around the table, surprised at how close everyone was sitting and how relaxed they seemed. Dinner at the Stark home was always stiff and uncomfortable. His father would sit at the head of the table, stiff-backed and perfectly silent while Maria would speak softly to Tony. Jarvis would watch on from the side, a protective constant in his life. Tony was sandwiched between Steve and Dr. Banner, asking as many questions as he could about their current technology when a voice across the table broke through the idle chatter.

“Hang on a second, who’s the new guy?” Leave it to Scott to take a good 5 minutes to wake up and ask the real questions. Sam slapped him on the shoulder as everyone else laughed, “Exactly that dumbass, he’s the new guy!”

Steve threw his head back and laughed heartily, slinging an arm around Tony’s shoulders and gesturing to the table, “I guess now is perfect for formal introductions, that’s Scott or Antman, someone you might be working with very soon.”

He moves to the side to show the man on his left, “Bucky or Winter Soldier, my best and oldest friend.” Bucky raises his glass in acknowledgement.

“Hawkeye or Clint in the obscene shade of purple, his soulmate and our head of archery.”

“Natasha, Black Widow, ex-assassin and civilian combat expert.” Unnaturally red hair would make it easy for Tony to remember that one.

  
“Sam or Falcon, battle warrior and counselor of the mind, soulmate to Scott.” Another raised cup.

“Valkyrie, warrior of Asgard and a frequent guest.” The woman barely lifts her gaze, simply nodding at him.

“Loki, the God of Mischief, Asgardian and brother to Thor.” The man in green and black attire had escaped Tony’s view until now, almost as though he had appeared from nowhere, not to mention he looked nothing like his brother. And God? A real one?

“Thor, the God of Thunder and a great warrior, Asgardian.” Okay, in the presence of two Gods. Cool. That would explain how fucking huge Thor was.

“Doctor Bruce Banner, Biologist and head scientist, soulmate to Thor.” Tony’s eyes widened, soulmate to a God? Damn.

“And myself, Captain and unofficial leader of the Avengers.” 

When it became apparent the table was waiting for a response, he leaned back in his chair, voice carefully calm, “So are you real Gods? That why you guys are so tall?”

Thor snorted into his drink, “Only my brother and I are truly Gods, the rest of them are only men, simply abnormally large. No offense meant, my friends.”

Bucky and Sam flip him off without looking. Bruce asked Tony if he wants to begin his lessons tonight or tomorrow, stating the sooner the better for them both. He enthusiastically agreed to that night and the two got up from the table after their attempts to help clean up were brushed off, heading down the hall to the basement elevator. The elevator doors opened to an expansive laboratory, metal alien instruments lined around clear walls, allowing constant surveillance of the whole lab while maintaining safety between each station. Blue glove boxes and white containers were outside of each doorway. He lightly ran his fingertips along the cold metal machines they passed, instinct urging him not to slip them into the cracks. The doctor called him over to another transparent room that had few machines and a large green rectangle upon a wall, strange white symbols covering a good portion of it and tall white tables. The blinding white light from the ceiling was starting to make his eyes hurt.

Crossing the room to the doctor’s side, he leaned up against the white table the man was at and watched him pull a leather bound notebook out from under their perch and scan the pages. Tony let his eyes drift shut to the sound of the pages flipping, taking a moment to recenter himself until the silence grew uncomfortable and he couldn’t stand it any longer.

“So what’ll you be teaching me today, doc? You’ll probably want to start at the basics but I’m sure you’ll find I’m a quick learner, always have been.”

Banner shot him a glance above his glasses and moved toward the green wall, picking up a white piece of chalk and pausing, “Considering how focused you seem on technology, we’re going to start… with chemistry.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

Bruce gave a distracted hum and began writing differing symbols in neat lines down the green, stopping after the 7th, “Can you read or write in any of these?”

Tony stepped up to the wall and examined each line carefully, feeling the doctor’s eyes reading along with him and watching his face for any sign of recognition. He picked up his own chalk and made small marks next to two of the lines, Latin and Greek. A pleased smile spread across Bruce’s face and he took a cloth to the entire board, wiping off the white lettering as a small amount of dust kicked up into their faces.

Switching to Greek instead of the rudimentary English they had been using before, Bruce handed his leather book to Tony and began drawing a large circle, “This is excellent, I’ve actually got some books you can take back to your room after we’re done here.”

He drew small circles in the very center of the circle that were bunched together like grapes and added dots on the circle itself, beginning a lecture of the smallest thing known to man, studiously ignoring Tony’s snort at that opening line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot damn, accidentally made this chapter 2.5k words long. Getting a bit more sass from Tones and some very trusting Steve. We've got an accepting but nervous team.  
> Our timeline is a bit messed up too, Ragnorak has already happened, there won't be a civil war because that's stupid, Wakanda is not as advanced as they are in the movie just so we can be real on where they were (they are currently at modern day technology/slightly more advanced but with the same ideals and attitudes as in the movie). Just a side note in case I don't explore it enough later, Sam Steve and Bucky are all results of the superhuman serum. Will I tell you who made them? Fuck no, not yet.  
> Let me know of any questions you've got and I'll try and answer them or I'll let you know if it's a spoiler.   
> Drop a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! Thank you for reading <3


	5. Back and Bloodied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Captain must leave for the first time since Tony's arrival. Developments in the friends are found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some graphic violence in this chapter, it starts after the bold warning and ends after the sentence "Packing the bloody area"

Tony awoke to the sound of footsteps traversing down the hallway outside his room. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, tracing intricate lines as he tried to recall exactly how he had arrived in his room.

He had been down in the lab with Dr. Banner, experimenting with the elements and learning more through action than anything. Things got fuzzy and difficult to remember after they passed gallium though, it had become harder and harder to force his eyes to stay open, begging the doctor for just a few more minutes. He had to have fallen asleep in the lab… so how was he in his room now? 

Tony was again jolted from his thoughts as the faint sound of a door across from his swooshed open and more footsteps traveled down the hall. Steve was going somewhere? Tony glanced at the spare clothes he had been given and sighed, reluctantly removing his tunic and changing in front of the fire. The pale blue tunic hung off his shoulders and showed off his collarbones nicely, but thankfully still covering his soulmark. The deep blue trousers fit nicely around his waist and, after rolling the bottoms up, framed his boots like they were meant to be. Leaving his borrowed cloak, Tony found his way to the elevator and followed the noise on the first floor to a room he hadn’t been introduced to yet. He peeked his head around the corner and gasped as an enormous chamber room filled with seemingly endless walls of racks of armor, color differentiating as they went around the corner. In the center of the large expanse was Steve, Sam, Bucky, Thor and Valkyrie, still strapping leather to themselves, speaking with Bruce in what tony had learned was Norse, the language of the Gods. Although they did not look worried or rushed, dread settled like a pit in Tony’s stomach at seeing what he believed to be the largest and strongest men and women he had ever met rounded the armory corner, handing weapons to the main five and assisting in assembling the last of their armor.

“Tony!” His cover blown, Thor waving his arm with a flourish for Tony to join them. As he approached, the small crowd of people dwindled until there were only two strangers left, ready for battle.

Tony shoved his sleeves up his forearms fruitlessly, “You guys look ready for a war. Were you gonna leave without telling me-anyone?”

They all looked at each other, somewhat confused before Steve responded for the group, “We’re just going on a perimeter run, we’ve heard some reports of Hydra in the area.”

“And it’s easier to just take the superhumans, things go a lot faster this way.” Sam winked at him as he slid a metal pack onto his back, pressing a button that made the contraption light up red and begin humming.

“We’ll be back before midday tomorrow,” Steve placed a shield on his back as his face grew serious. “Do me a favor, Tony. Get some rest while you can, sleeping in the lab isn’t good for you, next time our Doctor might not be so gracious to let me know.” And with that the group strode past him to the door, leaving him baffled until he heard the front door close behind them, moving to Bruce’s side.

“What was that supposed to mean?”

Bruce hummed, “Well, a perimeter check entails them riding around the land and its surrounding areas-”

He looked away from the door and caught Tony’s unamused gaze, “Oh! You mean about the lab… Well I can’t tell you everything, I just let the Captain know his newest recruit fell asleep mid lesson and might wake up aching if left alone.” He shrugged. “I left the lab after that, you are a really deep sleeper, you know?”

Tony felt his face flush in embarrassment. No, he didn’t know that. Back home- well at his old house, Howards presence and his own insomnia made him a very light sleeper.

Bruce eyed the red in his cheeks and gave him an understanding smile, “Being comfortable isn’t a sign of weakness, Tony. I can’t remember sleeping as well as I do with Thor, ever in my life.”

The smile turned a bit bashful, Banner breaking the small silence before it could turn awkward, “You ready to eat? I was planning on making breakfast.”

Tony’s stomach growled at the mention of food and he quickly wrapped his arms around his middle, squeezing to try and quiet the noise, “I could eat.”

As the other man laughed and led the way to the kitchen, Tony felt a ball of anxiety start to form in his stomach and desperately hoped it was just hunger.

* * *

The team was back late. The rest of the day had gone just fine, the two had returned to the lab after eating, resuming Tony’s lessons. He absorbed everything that Bruce taught him, finding he worked better hands-on as they accelerated into electronics.

And if his chest warmed at the praise Bruce would give him, that was nobody’s business but his own.

The rest of the team had joined them for dinner that night, Loki preparing a hare stew and bringing down an Asgaurdian alcohol as a “gift for the new member”. Tony didn’t like the glint in his eye when he said that, so he simply sipped at his cup over dinner until Clint reached over and stole it from him (a grateful theft), downing it in one go. They all chatted into the night, Tony regaling them with tales of what it was like South, how things hadn’t really changed and seemed stuck in place, his tongue loosened by what little he had drunk. They returned the favor by answering his questions of the history of the place, short stories of how they came to live there and a little about themselves. Even Thor’s aloof brother had shared a few old tales, almost certainly giving them his own twist, evident by the smirk on his face.

Eventually everyone turned in for the night, exchanging goodnights and plans for tomorrow. Tony fell asleep with a smile on his face, occasionally cracking up at remembering how Clint had nearly taken the whole table down after attempting to stand for the first time, swearing in endless Norse.

Tony almost hadn’t noticed when midday passed, but Bruce had been getting testy over the course of the morning and when the man dropped a vial of mercury on the lab floor, Tony suggested they take a break. 

He was sitting on the balcony of Steve’s room, legs slotted between the rough granite pillars that brushed against his thighs when he swung his legs back and forth. Tony was content to watch the sun cross the blue expanse in front of him, letting the rays run warm over his skin. Eventually the sky turned to an orange hue, darkness bleeding into the sky, showcasing a few pinpricks of stars in the deep blue above his head. With the sun now settling behind the high peaks, the coming winter brought a bone-chilling breeze that nipped through your clothes and he was starting to feel it. Still, he sat on the balcony, goosebumps rippling over his skin, staring at the retreating purple of the sun.

His peace was interrupted as he felt a sudden shooting pain through his right shoulder that lingered for a good 30 seconds, before dissolving into a more manageable but still deeply aching, down to the fucking bone. Breath choking through his throat and stars clearing from his eyes, Tony realized he was sprawled across the floor, clutching his shoulder in one hand and fingernails scratched through the wood floor. He took a shaky breath and brought himself up on his knees while fighting the urge to vomit. 

When he finally stumbled his way down to the communal room, he found that Natasha, Bruce, Clint, and Scott were huddled together on one of the mounds of furs in front of the fire, Valkyrie and Loki were hovering around them. Natasha had Clint’s face tucked into her shoulder, smothering his occasional whimpers, the rest of his body tensed up along her side. Scott was curled up against Clint with his legs tucked under the other man’s, one arm around his stomach and the other wrapped around his own. If Tony looked closely enough, he could see sweat across Scott’s brow and the occasional tremor that ran through his body.

Loki was running his hands through the air, green magic following his fingertips as he drew intricate patterns above the huddled groups. He glanced over at his entrance and grimaced, then nudged the warrior next to him with his foot. Valkyrie looked up from where she was petting Bruce’s hair and motioned him over, eyes already locked on his shoulder.

“What the hell is going on? Not that I’m not into this but,” he waved a hand vaguely at the pile. 

“Just get your ass down here,” Natasha grabbed his hand and pulled him down until he rested his head against her stomach and felt his legs settle next to Bruce’s.

Loki crouched down in front of the group, looking at Tony for a moment, “Where are you feeling your pain, newcomer?”

“I don’t-”

“I am not obligated nor compelled to help you. I can explain why you are feeling pain, but only if you cooperate.” Loki leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, invading Tony’s already lacking personal bubble.

“Yeah okay, I get it Emyrs, It’s my shoulder.”

Green patterns resumed above his head and the pain in his shoulder left completely until all that was left was an occasional twinge. He looked into the glowing green eyes to his left and lifted an eyebrow at the glare.

Loki let out a put upon sigh, continuing his magic above them, “I’m sure you’ve grown up with the stories of soulmates, even in a household like yours, someone must have spun you tales of ‘finding your other half’ or destiny or the inevitability of finding love. It’s not true. Everyone has another half, someone or multiple someones that make you feel… whole.”

The patterns above curled into specific shapes, glowing gold when they slotted together, fading back to a lively green when they drifted apart and vanished back into the firelit room.

“But not everyone finds them. It’s difficult, they could live far away, not love you or already be dead. You could meet them and hate each other. So many things could go wrong, but it’s all worth it if you genuinely love each other. Soulmarks are the most common way of finding who your match is, find the mark, find them. What our dear friends and you, I presume, are suffering from is shared pain.” he paused to wave at the other 3, “The closer you are to your soulmate, the more apparent their injuries will be on your body. All of their mates recover quickly from their injuries and what could kill them doesn’t, but the pain can be too much.”

Loki’s face had grown soft as he looked at the group in front of him, his hands slowed but consistent, “My magic isn’t really meant for this. I’m a God and it feels insultingly below me to play healer to a bunch of mortals.”

Valkyrie’s hand stilled and she glared in their direction, “But?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you.”

She rolled her eyes, “Put them to sleep until they get back, the questions can wait.”

“Of course, your highness,” sarcasm dripping from his voice, the magister drew a translucent blue sheet over them and Tony felt his mind grow slow. The world grew muted and dull as his eyes drifted close, feeling Natasha’s heartbeat against his face, the only noise left the breath of his friends.

* * *

  
  


Tony’s eyes opened to a commotion at the front door, pain in his shoulder returning for a split second before the green haze filled the whole room. The room descended into chaos when the group of superhumans rounded the corner, obviously injured. While their leathers were torn and bloodied in a few places, the cuts had already healed and closed of their own accord. Bruce launched himself off the covers and grabbed Thor by the arm, pulling it over his shoulder and leading him down the hall. Clint followed suit with Bucky, Nat guiding Steve and the rest on their heels.

“Shit guys, what the hell happened out there?” Clint was the first to speak up once they were all in the infirmary, skimming his hands over Bucky and swearing at the amount of exposed skin peeking through the armor on his torso. A pair of hands grabbed his own, holding fast and mimicking deep breaths until they were both calmed down significantly, the soldier brought their hands up to his face and pressed his face against them, letting go with a small kiss.

“Hydra was waiting for us,” Steve rasped out. “Nat, I need you to find out who tipped us off that there was activity on the border, they were probably involved. And even if they weren’t, I want to see them.”

Nat gave an affirmative noise, placing a red kit on each of the the end of each table, “Easy enough.”

Steve raised a hand to stop her at his table, “Please don’t hurt them too bad, but drag them through town if you have to.” They smiled at each other knowingly and the redhead left, heading toward the armory.

“Tony, can you take care of the Captain? I’ve kinda got my hands full here,” Tony looked over and saw the man’s arms were indeed full of a certain God, essentially cuddling the man while standing up and watching Valkyrie plaster over the wounds that hadn’t healed already. He turned his attention to Rogers who had unclasped his chest piece with some difficulty, unable to fully take it off. He rounded the table and kneeled behind the man’s wide back.

“Shit, how are you not screaming right now? Because this honestly looks horrific, Cap.” It may have been his lack of battlefield experience but the arrow sticking out of the broad upper shoulder was one of the worst things he’d ever seen. The skin was puckered around it like it was trying to heal despite the dark wood embedding itself in the man, the head was fully submerged as well. Glancing at the rest of him, he could see the semi healed cuts beneath leather, small pieces of metal and wood stuck in them. He’d deal with those in a minute.

Clint’s voice rang out, “Buck says he’s had worse and I believe it. Stop squirming.” That last part was muttered under his breath, taking care to stitch a particularly wide cut on the silent man’s leg.

Steve chuckled, shaking his head lightly, “It’ll be best if you snap the end off first. Grab a few of those pressure bandages and the flat knife, you’re gonna have to cut this thing out of me. Hey, Bruce?”

A muffled yeah came from their left.

“This arrow’s barbed, should I push it through or cut it out?” Another muffled response. “That’s what I thought.”

Tony flipped his palms up, careful of the knife still in one, “So, am I cutting or pushing, doc?”

“Cutting. Hope you’re not squeamish.”

“You should know I’m not,” He took hold of the lowest part of the arrow and snapped it above his fist. Even as he tried to keep it steady, he heard Steve’s small groan when the head shifted.

**WARNING**

He brought the blade up to the entrance wound and cut the top layer of skin first, bisecting the area. The smell of iron was already heavy in the air, but now it lingered on his tongue and sat. Bringing the blade back heavier, he cut through the next layers of skin and fat, following the line he drew. Steve hummed in the back of his throat and brought a fist to his mouth, biting down.

“Pull the muscle to the side and cut through if it’s already damaged,” Bruce chimed in. Tony gave him a withering glance and drew in a steadying breath, refocusing on the task at hand. He curled his fingers around the edge of a muscle group and pulled it to one side, revealing the torn muscle the arrow was embedded.

He carefully cut around the head, wincing in time with Steve and dabbing away the blood that pooled over his fingers. It made his grip slick, nearly letting the muscle fall back in place. Tony dug his hand in more forcefully, desperately ignoring the sound it made as he pulled the barbed metal out. The captain's shoulders heaved, gushing more blood that Tony made quick work of and between wipes, he could already see the wound stitching back together. The pain in his shoulder had all but disappeared now as he was more focused on the medical marvel in front on him.

Packing the bloody area with bandages was the easy part, now the obstruction was gone and he could start healing. He slid the knife through the knots holding the leather cuirass together and opened it, carefully sliding it forward and off the broad shoulders, leaving Steve in just his bottoms.

“Y’know, I was wondering. How’d you get an arrow stuck in you if you had a shield?” Tony mused as he cleaned out the slivers of open skin, mostly to keep himself busy. 

“He throws the thing!” Sam cackled, nearly doubling over Scott, who pushed him back upright by the shoulders, “He’s too busy doing fancy twirls in the air and tossing it in front of the shots meant for his teammates to actually use the damn thing for himself.”

Bucky’s shoulders were shaking and he was making a clicking noise in his throat that Tony assumed was laughter, but the murderous look he tossed Steve’s way was a bit off. It spoke of years of dealing with that kind of bullshit, not anger but eternal exasperation. Soon enough the whole room was cracking up at a joke that Tony wasn’t privy to but the energy of the room pulled at the corners of his mouth and he found himself smiling regardless.

Tony applied the last bit of plaster to the cut stretching across one of the Captains shoulder blades and hopped off the table, grabbing a nearby rag to wipe his hands off with. He rounded the table and glanced at the man’s now exposed torso in case there were more cuts but what he saw…

Tony’s blood ran cold and he dropped the rag, freezing mid-stride at the sight of the man's chest. At any other time he would simply admire the large muscles, the strength visible in the bulk there. But right now, his eyes were trained on the image that rested on Steve’s left pec. It was a vibrant blue circle in the center of a golden triangle, which was surrounded by a gold circle. 

Tony recognized it so easily because he had seen it every time he looked down.

He saw it every time he looked in the mirror. 

It was his.

His soulmark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Drop a comment or kudos if you enjoyed, they let me know what I'm doing right and push me to write more <3 <3  
> Much love to you all, stay safe out there!!


	6. All Good Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whats the best way to deal with finding your soulmate? Well if you're Tony, you avoid the issue and get into perilous situations.

It had been two months since Tony found out Steve, the Captain and supposed War Lord, was his damn soulmate. Everyone had given him strange looks when he stuttered his way through an excuse (something about there being more blood than expected) and scrambled out of the building to find comfort in Essam’s deep red coat. It had only taken an hour for the ache in his shoulder to fade back into nothingness.

Avoiding the man wasn’t even an option it seemed, when Tony was down in the lab, he would drop by with Thor and food. When he actually had time to sit down and eat, all seats but the ones next to Steve were taken. And Tony could swear on anything that the team had been pushing their chairs closer, prying eyes looking between them at the vanishing space until Tony’s entire side was searing with bare skin pressed against him.

And now, down in the lab with Bruce, he was having trouble concentrating. They had moved to chemical experiments, testing the effects on different materials and had only caused a few explosions so far! Eventually his eyes were burning behind his mask, throbbing in time with his heart in his skull.When Bruce suggested a break for the day, he barked out a “fucking yes, please” and tossing his beaker in the disposal. He rubbed his eyes, pressing hard until color flashed across them and sighed. Could Steve feel his growing headache?

Tony trudged up to his room, waving off an invitation to spar from Nat and Clint, flopping face first onto his bed and drawing the furs over his head. A migraine started to form at the front of his skull and his heartbeat was present in almost every part of his head. Getting woozy from the pain was normal for him, but this was exceptionally bad, it was hard to focus and his eyes were throbbing within minutes. In the midst of the haze, a knock on his door sounded, cool air flooding in as it opened and closed with a woosh.

“Tony?” Steve's soft voice drifted over him, “Bruce said you were acting off today, are you…”

The edge of the bed dipped near Tony’s torso, rolling his body toward it with a groan. He drug the cover down, blinking unfocused eyes until he could see the man better. Baby blue eyes met his and softened as a sympathetic smile dimpled his cheek. Things came a bit more into focus, the pain fading just a bit as the blond leaned forward.

“Got a headache too, huh? Here,” Two broad and scarred hands reached toward his head, fingertips lightly pressing into his temples and kneading the sensitive flesh. Tony moaned at the instant relief, half-lidded eyes boring into the Lords, catching the crinkle from his smile edging around his eyes. 

“Bucky used to help me when we were young, when I got sick a lot,” Tony made a curious sound and Steve tilted his head to the side, “Well, everyone else in the crew knows, figure I should tell you too.”

Tony watched broad shoulders shudder above him and brushed his fingers against the ones at his temple, “Don’ hafta tell, ‘f you don’ want.”

“No, really, I’ve talked to Buck and Sam, they’re okay with it. We-uh-we grew up together in Bostrius, stuck together as best we could when we lost our parents but one day,” He pauses to draw his thumbs up to Tony’s temples and rubbing, large hands carefully cradling his aching head. “One day some real bad folks came by and wiped us out. Hydra. We were too young to really fight but we made sure they left with less men than they came with. That brought too much attention to us and we were taken away from the ravaged mess we used to call home.”

He stopped again to adjust his grip, subtly shifting a bit closer as his warmth radiated calm into Tony’s body, “They took us back to the base, saying we had so much potential, that we could be so much more. They did horrible things to us, almost all of it permanent, so no matter what we can never forget what happened. And I hate to tell it for them, so if you ever get the chance, ask Sam or Buck, they have their soulmates to help them deal with it. All I really know is that Sam was genetically altered and Bucky mouthed off one too many times for them.”

He grimaced and muttered something in Norse, the pain looked fresh in his eyes, “I was still too small to fight, got too sick too often, but one of the doctors there saw something special in me. Ordered a lot of injections, chemicals, made me who I am now. They put me through a lot of tests, always told me that if I failed, my brothers would be killed. Eventually they found out that I heal up quickly and used that too, Broke all my bones at least once, said it’d make them stronger. Once we found out just how strong we were, we broke out, killing every member of Hydra on our way out. I didn’t know if wanting them to suffer more for the years of torment they put us through was wrong, I try not to think about it.”

He removed his hands fully and set the younger man's head on it’s pillow, “How’s your head?”

“Better, keep going and talking please,”

“Just, let me know if you get tired, okay?” Tony hmm’d in response as warmth enveloped his head again.

“That was a long time ago, since then we built ourselves up, wiping out any Hydra we found. A distant king, Black Panther took notice and decided to help us out. Now we’re one of the most advanced places on Athon, with the best people I could ever wish to be with. That includes you Tony,” Their eyes met again, “I’m happy you’re with us,  _ Elskan _ . You keep Bruce company, you’ve made so many strides in technology since you’ve been here, and we love all your tales of the southern world.”

The heat of Steve’s hands retreated and answered Tony’s whine, rumbling deep in his chest as he stroked a palm over Tony’s now cooling forehead. In that moment, Tony was reminded of when he was a sick young child, Alfred bringing him medicine and his mother’s soft lips against his cheek.

Tony didn’t remember falling asleep, only that the large blond’s presence left as he drifted deeper into darkness.

* * *

All good things come to an end though, usually with abrupt and disastrous consequences in Tony’s case. He had been leafing through Sam’s personal library when he felt the ground beneath him shake, throwing him off his feet.

Just as he pushed himself up, a high and rising siren sounded through the city, making Tony slap his hands over his ears and hunching over. A hand took hold of his and pulled it away from an ear. 

“It’s a raid! You’ve got to get to the armory with the civilians,” Scott’s voice echoed in his ear over the ringing, “Bruce’ll meet ya down there, just make sure you keep those people safe.”

Scott hauled him by the arm down the emergency stairs and into the armory, the racks on the walls were almost empty when he looked. The inner doors opened and Bruce stepped out, taking hold of Tony’s shoulders and pushing him inside behind him. He and Scott had a hushed conversation, shooting glances at the crowd inside and moving their hands animatedly. 

Before he shut the door, Scott took the scientist into his arms and hugged him, “You stay safe Doc, keep the Captains boy in here and don’t go green on us, okay?”

The two parted with a smile, the metal door closing and locking tight with a hiss, plunging them into darkness.

After a few minutes, he found Bruce’s shoulder and held on tight to it, “Can we get a light on in here or something? I feel like you without your glasses.”

“Sorry bud, but we can’t take any chances, this isn’t just a routine check.”

“Can’t be worse than a fire and brimstone raid from the south,”

Bruce chuckled, “I don’t know what that means, but in short, yes it’s worse. Hydra is the closest to us in technology, still a far cry from Wakanda, but dangerous as hell. We develop science and wellcare, they choose weaponry and destruction.”

Tony’s vision adjusted until he could see Bruce’s profile as he continued, “The newest wave of soldiers is genetically enhanced, armed to the teeth and merciless. They don’t care how young you are, if you can defend yourself, they kill anything and everything.”

“So what the hell are we supposed to do if they get in? Beg for mercy and await death?”

Bruce’s face twisted up, “There’s a… final option. Me, sort of. It won’t come to that.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me.”

“Maybe,”

When it became clear that the doctor was done talking, Tony turned to face the wall, facing the wall and closing his eyes. If he focused hard enough, he could swear the tremors beneath him were growing. 

Few precious minutes had passed when Bruce quietly ushered the whole group away from the door as heavy footsteps grew near. He had barely spotted the flash of the muzzle when a dart flew from the door and he was shoved bodily out of the way. Bruce caught his eyes then looked down at the frankly enormous needle sticking out of his shoulder, ripping it out and collapsing to the ground in a heap.

The fucking sound Bruce’s body made when it hit the ground resounded so deeply through Tony’s ears, he swore it would never leave. When his body couldn’t decide to run to his friend or cower the choice was made for him, hearing reduced to shrill ringing as the doors were fully blown inside, slamming to the floor as a team of men in all black stormed in. Instinct finally kicked in and he threw an arm around Bruce’s shoulders, desperately pulling his limp body away. 

Two pairs of hands wrapped around his arms and wrenched them behind his back, causing him to collapse on his front. Cracking his eyes open, Bruce was mere feet away, eyes wide open, pupils contracted as he fought whatever he had been injected with. A knee pressed into his back, crushing the air from his lungs with a shout. Muffled talking faded back into coherent words, a heavy English accent next to his ear.

“You! Is this you? Are you Stark?” A scrap of an aged painting landed next to his eye level, stolen from the portrait in his living room. His eyes widened and he reared back against the pressure, these men had broken into his home and cut up one of the only good memories of his mother. 

_ Fuckers. _

The man was yelling now, demanding to know if it was him. Tony was tempted to stay silent but… he could hear the civilians screaming, at least two of the men in his sight were pointing guns at the group. Guns weren’t Tony’s favorite. Might even be his least favorite. No one here used them.

“I already told the Roman-Catholic Church I wasn’t interested, you’d think they’d take a hint, yeah?” He shot a smirk over his shoulder and winked at the masked man. 

His arms were nearly pulled out of socket when they pulled him off the floor, legs scrambling to hold himself up as he was drug away from the hidden room. He cast a final glance to Bruce’s limp form, breathing a sigh of relief when it twitched and an equally confused noise escaped him when he noticed the sickly green shade that had overtaken his friend.

“Pick your damn feet up or we’ll cut them off.” The man who had put his knee through Tony’s back ordered. Sounded like the one in charge. He was also the one leading them through the abandoned town, crushing pots under their boots and heading toward a wall with a large blast hole in it.

An obscenely tall man was waiting for them at the wall and called to them through a black mask with a painted red skull, “Where's the big guy?”

The largest on Tony’s left spoke up and passed him through the opening, “Used the new syringes, took ‘em out no problem.”

“Good, now tie the little bastard’s hands,” He could hear the smile in the man’s voice, practically dripping with malice.   
  


* * *

  
  


They had only made it through an hour of horseback riding in the biting cold woods that surrounded the North when they had their first death. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Tony himself. Big and tall had executed one of the men for asking if he was sure they were going the right way. Tony got an extra jacket and his own horse, tied to the leader still, but a modecrum of independence meant they were underestimating him.

He let himself get a little overconfident, Tony can admit it. Asking to take a piss and getting the shit kicked out of him when he ran wasn’t his greatest idea, but he was running on fumes here. He couldn’t be a genius all the time.

_ Yes he could. It should have been easy, damn it. Whatever, the point is that things could be worse. Probably. _

Sam’s voice recounted his injuries; blows to the ribs, lacerations to the head, fractured wrist, possible concussion. He swiped at the blood trickling into his eye and readjusted his grip on his horse’s reins, twisting his wrists where they were tied. But trying to alleviate pain when riding horseback was akin to picking at a wound and expecting it to hurt less every time. Every breath ached deep in his chest, every beat of his heart throbbed in his skull. 

“Pick up the pace, we’ve gotta make it back before nightfall,” Tony groaned, clenching his thighs against the incoming pain.

* * *

  
  


Tony’s head jerked to the side, the familiar shape of a palm stinging on his left cheek. Returning his gaze to the agent in front of him, he worked his jaw up and down, feeling it pop back in socket.

“Quite a hand you’ve got there, buddy! Reminds me of my fath-” The next blow had teeth biting into his flesh, blood pooling in his mouth and dripping from a corner. Shaking his hand by the wrist, the agent left the room, slamming the cell door behind him. Tony opened his mouth to let the blood splatter on the concrete floor next to the metal chair he was tied to. Several men had come by to beat on various parts of his body, none bothering to ask him anything beyond his name. Plain and simple ‘Tony’ wasn’t satisfying them, but he had a distinct feeling things would get worse if he admitted he was a Stark. 

He couldn’t have been more right.

After a few sustained hours of a single question and enough abuse to give his childhood a run for its money, a familiar voice came from the now open door, calling the guard away and taking his place. Tony blinked past his swollen eyes as the figure in front of him came into focus, head pounding as blood rushed to his injuries. He bolted upright in his seat, eyes widening in disbelief. 

Tony dared not speak, the two simply stared at one another. Not awkwardly but more like seeing an old family friend at a funeral. Somber and mourning, but knowing you were never really close enough to truly connect or help each other.

The old man sitting across from him gave a wry smile, “Hey kid, you miss me?”

Shocked out of his stupor, the words spilled from his lips, “Uncle Obie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was so late! I got the infamous sickness of 2020 (covid) and have recovered! I have the next 3 chapters planned out, alls to do is write and revise, so I'll see you all next update <3  
> Poor Tony, his family really sucks :/  
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!


	7. Where do we go from here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Obie? What is he doing here?
> 
> Tony works to escape his captors, maybe even making a deal in the process, and we get to see an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge violence and torture warning. Skip to end notes for a summary if you want to move past it quick.

Obadiah clapped his hands together and smiled warmly, “Glad you still recognize me, son! Anything I can get for you? A drink, something to eat?”

“Yeah, untie me and let me go.”

His smile turned patronizing, disappearing from his eyes, “Oh, I’m _awfully_ sorry, but I can’t do that.

“You see,” Obie stood, walking behind Tony’s back as his voice became softer, “there’s something I need from you. Just a little information about your time with the Lord of the North.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking ab-”

A pair of firm hands grasped his tensed shoulders as Obie spoke directly into his ear, beard brushing his face, “Your little friends in the mountains have… exceptional technology, I’m sure you’ve seen it. The ability to make things move on their own, send a message in seconds to somewhere far away, and their weapons, Tony. Ohhhh, their weapons, beautiful things.”

Tony’s wide eyes tracked the man as he crossed his chair again, pulling back when that maniacal smile turned his way. Something was seriously wrong with his uncle.

“But you, the youngest Stark, can help the world! Think of it Tony, a world like the one you saw inside those walls, you can help your people in unimaginable ways! All you have to do,”

He threw his arms out, gesturing to the cell they were in, “is help us recreate what you saw.”

_A world like the one I saw_. Tony let his head hit the back of the chair, pressing against his restraints again.

“And then you get to go home. Your father has been _very_ worried about you, couldn’t believe the rumors of you going to the mountains. Even hired me to bring you back home.”

Tony’s face went pale as his heart rushed blood to his arms and legs, pleading with his uncle, “I can’t- Obie, _please_ , I can’t go back.”

His uncle’s eyes narrowed but maintained his honey-sweet tone, “Well Tony, I can’t let you back into those savages’ lands, what kind of uncle would I be? You have to come home! You’re second in line to inherit Stark Industries, a wonderful future ahead of you. Just write a few blueprints and you’re back to your cushy lifestyle, with Jarvis and Friday by your side, I know you’ve missed then.”

“I’m not going! And I’m not building anymore fucking weapons, I know that’s all you want!”

Obie’s smile fell, a sneer taking its place as he rubbed his bald head, “Then perhaps I can change your mind. _Custos_! _Educam illud!_ "

_Okay, he knew Latin, idiot._

The sound of metal rattling against itself came from down the hall, increasing in volume as Obie began what sounded like the beginning of a rehearsed speech, “I’ve been a part of this company for my entire life, longer than you’ve been alive, and I do believe it is my turn to run things.”

The rattling metal rolled closer until it was directly outside his confinement, the end of a metal cart peeking through the doorway, multiple shiny instruments hanging off of it. The rest came into view with one final shove and, oh fuck, it was absolutely covered in weapons, tools, things that Tony was certain belonged in a fucking kitchen. Struggling anew, he watched in horror as a bandana-clad man handed a chair to his uncle, running his fingers over the cart’s contents and inspecting them.

He held up various instruments at a time met with a head shake from Obie, stopping on a circular ring and a pair of pliers. Tony felt his skin rubbing raw and tearing under the restraints but pulled harder against them when his uncle nodded and the man approached. A wide palm enclosed his jaw, fingers wrenching his clenched teeth apart and shoving the ring behind his teeth. Tony twisted in place, wrenching his head back and forth as the man strapped the contraption to his head by it’s leather straps.

“The human body is truly incredible,” His uncle’s voice carried over the struggle, meeting Tony’s glare with a cool smirk. “Able to recover from almost any wound, survive horrible conditions, even amputation… Oh don’t look at me like that, your hands will be fine, you need them to build after all.”

He straightened in his chair and brushed invisible dust from his silk tunic, “The rest of you, however, I can’t make any promises. Richard?” His tormentor turned his mask from the table, pliers already in hand and tilted his head.

“Don’t break his pretty little mind too bad. As loathe as I am to admit it, we need his intelligence.”

* * *

**Content Warning - Violence**

Tony only stopped thrashing when the pliers closed tightly around one of his molars, looking into the expressionless mask for empathy and empathy that didn’t exist. In one swift movement, the tooth was ripped from its root and dropped to the floor. Tony didn’t realize he was screaming until his blood bubbled in his throat and choked him, the pain was incredible but not the worst to come, he was certain. Richard shoved his head down, blood pouring out of his open mouth and down his shirt, warmth seeping through his chest.

“Tony?” Obie’s apathetic voice called his eyes back up, “Glad you’re still with us. How’s that deal sounding now?”

“Ugck oou” _Fuck you_.

Faux sadness creased Obie’s face as an exaggerated frown crossed his face and for the first time, Tony truly saw his uncle.

A monster.

* * *

In. Out. In. Out.

Short breaths were better than nothing.

Tony whined when the rope around his neck tightened, reluctantly placing his bleeding feet back on the floor. He didn’t know how long he had been there, he had been drowned, whipped on his soles, another tooth removed, cut and burned. Now he was hanging from the ceiling, standing on his cut feet, rope tightening around his neck as his torturers watched his face turn red and blue. He gasped for air as black started clouding his vision and his head grew lighter.

He startled awake, already retied to the chair bolted in the center of his cell and immediately slurs his way through a tirade of insults directed at his uncle. Obie’s amused face comes into focus slowly, looking far too smug for the complete lack of information and cooperation Tony’s given.

“I have a surprise for you, Tony.”

_Fuck, shit, damn it._ Okay, what’s the worst that could happen? Obie had mentioned he wouldn’t permanently mutilate or ruin him, but things sure weren’t looking good. In the hallway, he could hear something being dragged toward the cell.

“You left a friend back home, didn’t you? Someone you’ve known since you were a child,” _No_. “Rhodey, right?”

His stomach twisted and the gnawing hunger turned to nausea, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never had a friend in my life, never even met another person.”

Sarcasm always was his panic response.

The cell door swung open and there he was. Rhodey. Relief and dread flooded his heart. His best friend was a balm to all the pain he’d been through, he had missed him desperately. Rhodey was still in their military’s uniform, though it was ruffled and he had obviously put up a fight, he smiled wide when he saw Tony. Three guards shoved him farther into the cell as Obie began speaking again. Bastard loved the sound of his own voice.

“Rhodey has been with us for some time, just as uncooperative as you, such a trooper,” He kneeled down and pinched his friend's cheek roughly, barely dodging the snap of teeth that came after. “I can see how he became a General. _Auferre_.”

Rhodey was held down by the shoulders, one man kneeling on his thighs, being thrown slightly akin to someone taming a wild horse as Rhodey thrashed. Tony knew from experience just how strong his friend was but seeing him still be able to jolt three men holding him down cemented it. Even when they were younger Rhodey would lift him up on his shoulders and run, being scolded by the town elders for roughhousing in town square. It was the best part of his childhood, bumps and bruises included.

“Rhodes-" He let the nickname slip.

A chair screeched across the floor and Obie’s figure blocked his vision for a moment. He stopped on Tony’s left and leered close to the side of his face, Tony feeling the bite against his already open wounds as he leaned away. He flinched away again when Obie laughed, Rhodey had been able to kick the man on his legs in the back, “As… admirable as he is, I’m afraid I can’t lose anymore men to him. So,”

His uncle pulled a dagger from his tunic and passed it to Richard, “I have a permanent solution in mind. Unless, of course, you have /something/ to tell us now?”

“You guys are gonna castrate him?” Yeah, not the time for jokes.

Rhodey’s head turned his way and their eyes locked, “Tones, I love you with all my heart, but please shut the hell up. Don’t tell them anything, you have a duty to your people.”

Tony bit his lip and nodded, barely restraining from telling Rhodey that he was his people too.

Richard’s hand slid under Rhodey’s shirt, exposing the twitching muscle and dip in his spine. Using an ungloved hand to feel the dip, Richard found the individual knobs of spine, moving down slowly. Blood trickled down Tony’s chin as his teeth pierced his lip, Rhodey’s back was tense, still fighting against the caress down his back. 

Stopping at a lower-mid notch, tip of the knife pressed between two vertebrae, Richard looked to Obie. 

“Stop,” his voice escaped him in a breath, “I... I’ll build for you, just-just don’t hurt him. Anything you want; money, fame, the business, my life and eternal servitude.”

He couldn’t help the sardonic tone slipping in the last sentence and grimaced at his own inflection.

Obie’s smile stretched across his face, all teeth but with genuine excitement in his eyes, “Excellent, my boy. Glad you’re finally seeing things my way. But,” his smile turned twisted, “I’m not sure your friend has the same sentiments.”

“Damn fucking right I don’t!”

“Right,” Obie snapped his fingers and Richard pushed the knife down.

Rhodey let out small sounds of discomfort as his skin was sliced open, but Tony could barely hear them over his own yelling, swearing in every language he could remember. As the tip penetrated his spine, Rhodey’s screaming crescendoed and crackled in his throat, the sound of it rattling inside the small cell. He was still fighting and his back shuddered as he drug in air, shakily. In the split second of dead silence, the dagger sunk in halfway with a sickening crack, his friend’s breath stuttered. Richard turned the blade sideways with a pop, scraping bone and-

Rhodey’s legs went slack first. His face was turned so that Tony could still see the agony etched onto his face, it fell away when the pain became overwhelming and his head hit the floor with a thud. Face slack and eyes closed, blood started pooling over his side and on the floor.

Tony drew in a ragged breath and wailed, echoing down the hall and out of the building. If Rhodey was dead… he didn’t know what he’d do. But that fucking deal was off.

* * *

Rhodey wasn’t dead. After his sustained screams of anguish and a fist to his already injured face, he saw his friends back rise and fall slowly.

As promised, Obie released him to a room filled with enough materials to take out half the continent if they knew how to wield them. He was assured that once Rhodey was recovered enough, he could see him again. Obie’s promises were less than nothing, Tony had learned, usually the opposite would occur.

The room was more of a cave, rows of metals and tools stacked high, blocking the 50 foot depth. With only one guard watching him, Tony took the blade that had been used on Rhodey from the small of his back and stashed it under a workbench. He made his way through the blueprints, finding a mix of his father’s and Hydra weapons. Mostly of mass destruction.

To assuage Hydra, he began a few weapons with small mistakes that would render them useless or explode in the user’s hand, only perceptible by engineers like himself. But in the moments that he was supposed to be rechecking his work, he sketched a weapon for himself, something he had thought up when he heard snippets of the technology Wakanda held. Bruce would kick his ass if he was there, for trying something so reckless, then he’d probably tell Steve and they would be banned from experiments again.

Little wet spots appeared and fizzled on the metal Tony was welding. He scrubbed his forearm across his eyes and sighed, his father always said crying would get him nowhere. As much as he hated it, his father was probably right.

_Crying is good for the soul_ , Sam’s voice reminded him. _All of us cry Tony. It is a heavy burden you carry, you need to relieve that stress, bróðir_.

He took a deep breath and rubbed a free hand over his soulmark, a constant warmth through his body. Even through the torture of the past -however long he’d been here, days, a week or weeks- it had stayed a comfort.

A loud banging against the metal in front of him made him jerk his hand away, “Rest time. Don’t make me come back there and put you to sleep.”

Tony shut down the welder and lit up the lantern next to his cot, bringing it to the very back of the cave and dimming it. He felt his way back to the stash of chemicals and metals he needed, inspecting them in the dim light. 

Palladium. Rare and beautiful. These idiots considered it useless but his people- _Steve’s_ people, they knew. 

Nuclear power was tricky and frowned upon in most places, the North was sufficient on solar and wind power. It wasn’t exactly banned but Banner had given him the third degree about not messing with atoms. He had told him how dangerous it was, how volatile the element was, but Tony never was one to play by the rules. As long as the danger was his alone, it would be fine.

Taking small pieces of iron, a makeshift battery and slivers of Palladium, Tony began making his own miniature nuclear reactor.

* * *

A spark of blue lightning shocked Tony’s hands and he dropped the ring of metal, watching it spark a few more times before it stopped. He felt his face stretch into a tired smile and laughed lightly. Then he kept laughing. Not a belly laugh, but light sustained giggling that bubbled up from his chest and out of his lips. The noise kept escaping him while he hid his materials again, then he crawled to his cot, trying to stay off his still healing feet. 

He had almost made it when he accidentally kicked one of the worktables lining the area, cutting off his laughing fit with a whimper. The tears blurred his vision and spilled over his face without permission as he continued crawling into his bed, landing with a thud on the shitty mattress. Sobs wracked his chest and heaved him up off the cot, his whole world was crashing down around him. Years of his father’s mistreatment had finally bubbled over. 

He didn’t know if Rhodey was still alive. He only had one idea of how to escape, but where would he go? His own father only wanted him as a successor to the family name and was willing to have him tortured to get him back. Howard didn’t give a shit- had never cared about him. All that mattered was results. When his mark had first appeared, Howard was unreasonably upset at the sight of it and had threatened to have it cut away. It wouldn’t have removed his soulmate from his life but it would have left him scarred and destroyed, guess his father got his way regardless.

But Steve… Tony didn’t know if he was good enough to be the leader’s soulmate, but _God_ did he want it. He _needed_ it. Someone to love him unconditionally, destined to be his other half, complete his soul. Just- someone who would love him because of who he was, not the power he held. Steve’s team was the closest thing he had to family -aside from Jarvis, Friday, and Rhodey- they held onto and truly cared for each other.

Tony’s hand moved to his temple, ghosting over the last place Steve had touched him as he cried. He faced the wall and slid his hand across his chest, the warmth of his mark flooding his body as he drifted off.

Silently, he begged for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary:  
> Tony is tortured by Obie for information, bringing in Rhodey (Tony's childhood friend) and severing his spinal chord as a punishment for not agreeing sooner. Tony begins working for Obie, but is also creating his own reactor, thinking of a weapon he imagined while in the North. He gets a reaction and cries himself to sleep. He misses Steve.
> 
> Also, we're getting close to an end! Thank you to everyone who's read so far, kudos'd or commented, it means a lot to me <3 Sorry the updates have been sporadic, but I hope this will end happily for everyone involved.


	8. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is revealed as a Stark. But first, escape calls.

_ Drip _

_ Drip _

_ Drip _

  
  


Hiding in the back of a dark cave and experimenting with a science that could potentially and literally blow up in your face was not Tony’s ideal work environment. But right now it was the best one he had. Anytime he had alone was spent on his reactor, and not to perform his own parade but he was a genius. 

_Beat that, old man._ Tony thought to himself with a smirk, flexing his hand around the blue energy in his palm, watching the shadows dance along the cave walls. 

He had twin energy cannons on each hand, powered by his mini reactor, which gave off a light blue glow similar to the lines on his chest. And based on the water drops that had fallen since he’d been thrown in this hell hole, it had only taken around 40 hours to finish. Now, all that was left was… escape.

And to get Rhodey back. Alive.

Darkness surrounded him once again as both fists clenched tightly, building a small burst of energy in his palms, eyes hardening with the determination overtaking his heart.

_Rhodey was alive and he would get them out._

  
  


* * *

Fuck, he hated waiting. Back in the mountains, he and Bucky would sit in silence, attempting to meditate despite Tony’s apparent inability to sit still for more than 5 minutes. The metal armed man had been surprisingly patient with him, allowing Tony to walk circles around him or fidget with the plates on his arm with only the occasional clicking his tongue to voice his displeasure at a particular sensation. He was surprised that he missed it.  


Feigning sleep when his whole body was screaming for him to move, eyes shooting open as soon as the guard turned away. Shifting his weight carefully off the cot, Tony’s newly scabbed feet shot pain up through his legs as he silently slipped off, dropping to a knee. Suddenly grateful at the impossible amount of training Clint and Natasha had put him through into moving without a sound, he crept forward despite the ache in his legs, slipping Obie’s dagger out of his waistband and slowly unsheathing it.

Sam had sat him down in his first week, explained he would have to kill someone eventually, that he should only hope that it was to protect himself or others. Tony would never take someone’s life, he’d seen enough death in his life already.

“Haven’t we all, kid?” Scott commented from where he was hanging up-side down in the doorway, curling in sit-ups while flipping through one of Sam’s psychology notebooks. “I remember being young -hyup- with bright ideas and all my innocence… Ah, those were good times, hadn’t met Sam though, so -hmm- I was missing out on that, right _schatje_?”

Scott shook his head, soft smile on his face, “Listen to me on this one, Tony. At the beginning, when Hydra first captured the Captain, Bucky and I, I swore to myself that I would never hurt someone the way we were hurt. I thought, ‘No one deserves this, and even if they did, who am I to deliver them to Death?’”

Sam took one of Tony’s hands in his, easily enveloping it and opening their palms next to each other.

“And when the day finally came, I realized that they didn’t have that thought, they never wondered if the people they were killing _deserved_ it. They never cared about the lives they ruined, the families torn apart, nothing. They followed orders unquestioningly. Which is one of the reasons we have a team instead of a true leader, Steve lived through the horrors of men who follow without thought. We all have.  


“My point is, there will be blood on your hands. You’ll encounter someone who does not deserve your mercy. The second you turn your back, they’ll stick a knife in it.”

Sam’s dark eyes bored into his, “If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for him. I don’t think he can live through losing another person so close to him.”

  
  


It wasn’t the first death he was responsible for, not by a long shot, but it was the first person to die by his hands. He wasn’t ashamed to say that he vomited under his desk nor that his hands shook when he stole the soldier’s bloodstained clothing, holding his breath when he felt the sticky fabric cling to his chest and thighs, spitting the blood from his missing tooth onto the filthy floor.

**Now is not the time to be squeamish, Anthony. Don’t be such a child.**   


_Look who’s talking, fucker._ He cursed his father’s voice that sometimes replaced his own conscience in an annoying, condescending manner. He slipped his cannons on and wiped his blade on his leg before tucking it in his newly acquired belt. Peeking his head through the still open door, Tony pressed his ear to the wall, listening intently for any footsteps.

When he heard none, he slowly made his way down the dark hall, grimacing as his stitching together skin pulled tight over sore muscles. After a few empty hallways and a few perpetual staircases, he encountered the back of a Hydra soldier, hesitating for only a moment. Holding his hands out in front of him as the energy built with an inaudible whine, it shot forward, blasting the man into a wall with a harsh thud. Tony took another shaky breath, stepping over the unmoving form and moving quicker down the hall.

After encountering and… firing at three more soldiers, he was getting a rhythm down, staying quiet and moving quickly. Large thundering thuds shook the tunnel like an earthquake, sending him to his scuffed knees as he went further up. He could hear the surface ambience getting louder, gunshots and yelling echoing down the halls, just nearby.

The hair on his arms stood up as he rounded the corner, time halting to a stop as crackling blue lightning filled his vision, each arc reaching out toward him like tendrils, blacking out as they made contact with his chest, directly next to his soulmark.

The world shook as he wrenched his eyes open, his entire chest burning, like a thousand fire ants were crawling in his skin. Looking down, Tony realized that the world wasn’t shaking, /he was/. Chest rising and falling in quick contractions, his own desperate gasps for air now echoing down the hall and in his ears.

It fucking hurt. Every breath was agony but he couldn’t stop, like he had just outrun a horse and been kicked by it in retaliation. His heart was beating too fast, jackhammering against his ribs, increasing in pace by the second. Despair crept up his throat as he looked aimlessly for help, seeing the Hydra soldier armed above him, lightning crackling from the barrel of his gun. The maize Obie had abandoned him in would be his tomb, no one to miss him, no one who knew he was gone or where he was. He was dead.

The sound of something ricocheting off the stone overtook his panic, the man over him tilting his head and recoiling in confusion. Wood cracked hard against the soldier’s head, the flash of red and blue returning as a looming figure wrapped around the man, spinning around and whipping the soldier to the floor with a crack as skull hit stone.

Steve’s hand wrapped around the man’s throat, slamming him into the ground as he tried to rise and crushed his throat easily. Blonde messily braided hair whipped around as beautiful blue turned his way, the short lived relief giving way to terror as he tried to move closer, falling to his knees and hovering just over Tony.

He would recognize those tattoos anywhere, not just the ones described in folktales, but the glimpses of hidden ink and paint that ran under leather armor. Stolen glances in the hot springs may have shown a lack of scars, but that unblemished chest was mottled and bruised, raised and pink lines along strong legs.

Distracted by the impossibility of the man above him, he barely registered the cloth from his chest being peeled away, air sucked through teeth, the light trace of a fingertip across his chest. He absolutely noticed when a damp cloth was pressed to his burning skin, the pain faded for only a second, screaming when it surged again. His voice cracked at the end, melting into silent agony, then dragging air into his deprived lungs with short choking gasps. 

Tony’s nails scrabbled over the Warlord’s chest, catching on already closing wounds and staining his fingers red. Unseeing eyes blurred with tears, finding Steve’s bright blue eyes focused on him, calling out for Sam in a rough voice. Calloused hands cupped his face, bringing his focus back to see Sam kneel at his head. Two fingers pressed against his neck, Sam swearing loudly and switching places with his Captain. 

Placing his hands atop each other on Tony’s soulmark with a grimace, Sam hesitated, “Sorry, kid. This is going to hurt a lot, if I didn’t have to, I wouldn’t touch it.”

The force almost caved Tony’s chest in, like Sam was trying to push him through the ground. Despite the immense pain and jolting of his body, black crept into the edges of his vision, each blink slowing until his eyes were practically shut.

“Fa-en! Keep him awake, Cap,” Sam’s voice was hushed but frantic, “if he sleeps now, he might not wake up.”

“Tony. Tony! Open your eyes for me, come on!” Tony’s eyes fluttered open briefly, catching the distorted faces of Steve’s team around him and a large green figure behind them, a confused whine escaping him. Increasingly loud thuds and Steve’s begging the last thing he heard before it all went dark.

* * *

  
  


Always active, Tony’s mind picked up bits of the world around him.

**Permanent damage**

**Heart**

  
  


Whispers of thought floated around him, not aware of what the words meant, just that they were there. A shadow came into his mind’s view, far off in the distance, growing closer as Tony faded above and under the breadth of consciousness. It sharpened as it approached, gaining green and black accents to it’s hair, robes and eyes. Tony’s own body gained a ghostly figure, a phantom of itself.

_Anthony Stark._

Hearing his full name brought his mind out of its revere, still amidst the darkness.

“Loki.”

Pointed white teeth appeared, akin to a wolfs, the God speaking without moving his mouth. 

_Yessss. I thought that would get your attention. Now,_ The figure moved within arms reach, slowly circling Tony’s manifestation of himself. / _I know who you are, have known for a while, it’s kind of my_ job _to know these things._ /

His head whipped around to keep the shadow in his field of view, “And now what? Gonna give me up? Get me kicked out of here too?”

_Hah! As if I could._ Two claw-like hands settled on his shoulders from behind, vanishing when he turned around. _You are lucky to encounter me in such good spirits. My brother has requested that I help you, and I am always glad to have him in my debt. However,_

Loki fully formed in front of his eyes, long sceptre in hand, sharp teeth still on display. This time, his mouth followed his words.

_I dabble in mischief. It would be so_ strange _of me to help you without any recourse. So, simply to keep my image of course, I’ll let this one go a bit wild._ Tony was frozen in place, forced to watch as Loki’s sceptre lit up emerald and approached his chest. 

_Oh, I can’t wait to see how the Captain reacts to this one._

  
  


* * *

  
  


Tony’s eyes shot open, launching himself up on his elbows and immediately collapsing on his back in pain. Breath coming in short bursts, he clawed at his chest, desperately trying to strip the restrictive bandages off. An iron grip pulled them away and pressed them to his sides, firm against Tony’s full strength. 

“Fuck, fuck, okay, okay,” Tony forced deep breaths in and out, eyes squeezing shut against the echoing stab in his chest. “Okay, I’m- I’m fine. Let go, let go.”

Lifting his hands to rub at his eyes, his mouth snapped shut as the room came into focus. It was high-tech, things Tony had barely theorized about even up North, clear glass walls, lights in every room, black carpet and walls, technology covering every surface. His heartbeat was on a plexiglass stand next to him, a bottle of blood and plasma connected to tubes in his arm. 

“No last name, huh?” 

Steve. Leaned back in an uncomfortable looking chair, hands clasped together in his lap, leveling Tony with a disappointed stare. The flex of his arms as they crossed his chest gave a perfect distraction from the pointed look, deep red cloth entrancing him as it shifted. Funny how something so simple could be so hypnotizing.

“As much as I distrust Loki, T’Challa confirmed it. You’re a Stark.” 

_God damn it, focus._ “I prefer Carbonella, actually, my mother’s name.” Tony gave a weak smile as Steve sighed, “I didn’t lie, you know, I just left a few details out.”

“You **lied**. I vouched for you, why would you even hide something like this?” He leaned forward, “Your father is not an ally of ours, nor an official enemy.”

Tony shifted in his bed, eyes downcast.

“But you didn’t lie about everything. You can’t fake aged scars and I should know what Howard is like.”

“Howa- you know him?” Fully facing the captain, Tony squinted at him. “Forget whether I lied or not-”

“You did.”

“Hush. How the hell do you know my dad?”

The captain looked away, arms crossed, thinking for a moment. “We were hunting for Hydra soldiers who had taken refuge in isolated villages, refused reform or surrender. Bucky and I were near Delphi, Sam was overhead scoping the area. And we found the bastard pretty easy, Howard gave him sanctuary, convinced we were wrong.

“No amount of reason or evidence of the man’s connection to Hydra worked. Less than a year later, it was Hydra territory. All the crops razed to the ground, people forced from their homes, lives destroyed. And as much as I wanted to shove it in his face, we helped Howard get rid of them. He promised a change.

He shook his head with a wry smile, “Should have listened to Sam when he said nothing would change, even Bucky thought it was useless. There’s Hydra everywhere South and the last time we tried to take it back, Howard claimed the land as his own and called us ‘bloodthirsty savages’. He spat in my face and called me a ‘Warlord’ in the same land we shed blood to reclaim for him. It’s the only name the People of the South know me as.”

Tony turned into himself, “Sorry about him.”

Steve waved him off, a bit of light returning to his eyes, “Look, the whole Stark thing, you want to leave it behind?” Tony nodded. “Then it won’t leave this group. We’ll talk to the King, he usually doesn’t care what we do as long as no one starts a war,” His gaze hit Bucky, who jutted his bottom lip out in a pout, tilting his head in a mockery of innocence.

“Yeah, but you think it’ll be that easy? My father sent them, he won’t stop until I’m home or dead, whichever is easiest to do without leaving his dumbass drinking room. He’ll kill me. One way or another, sending Obie after me -Hydra- coward couldn’t even do it himself.” Tony muttered, nails digging crescents in his palms.

Steve’s face fell, reaching over the bed to slip his hand into Tony’s, tugging it between them. Running the pads of his thumbs over a sole palm and gently pressing down, he began to massage Tony’s hand, earning soft noises of contentment.

“I can feel when you get hurt,” Tony looked up from his knees, Steve’s gaze steady on his work, brow furrowed with his lip caught between his teeth. “Didn’t realize it until you got shocked, I thought-” His thumb pressed around a bruise carefully. “When I saw you lying there, even though my chest was on fire and I could see you breathing, I thought you were dead.”

Turning his hand to clasp the larger, Tony squeezed, “Can’t get rid of me that easy, I’m tough to kill.”

“Actually, you were dead for a full minute.” The voice startled him, jerking his hand away as a lamp to his left was flipped on, revealing an exhausted Sam on a bed, wholly uninjured. In his lap was a lightly bandaged Scott, dead asleep with half an orange in one hand, the other stuffed up his own shirt.

The rest of the team was displayed under the soft glow, scattered in various positions around the room. Thor and Bruce were hanging off each other in a chair that was already struggling to hold the God alone, Bucky had hauled a chair up to sit behind his Captain, Natasha resting on a bed nearby with a purple quiver. Bruce and Natasha were as void of injuries as the rest, Tony noted with a sigh of relief. 

Sam ran a hand over his lover’s hair, murmuring, “Technically you’ve never been worse. Without T’Challa and Loki, you’d still be on that table. The King was gracious enough to overlook your heritage, thanks to his sister’s insistence. Only thing you have to do is talk shop with your science pal over there,” He gestured to Bruce’s chair. “that and Thor owes Loki a favor.”

“Never a good place to be, indebted to my brother.” Thor hooked his chin over Bruce’s shoulder, pressing their heads together.

“I’m usually not a fan of royalty, but I appreciate it.”

Natasha piped up, sarcasm dripping from every word, “His royal highness was kind enough to portal us here, even got your friend in the other room.” 

“Rhodey? You got Rhodey?” He attempted to push himself up but Steve’s hand came to span his collarbones, keeping him pinned.

“Yeah, nearly took off Bucky’s other arm when we found him. He’s in recovery, doing much better than you.”

Tony’s head thumped back onto his pillow, frowning when a muffled voice came from the ceiling.

“Doesn’t he even wanna know how we got him out? Scott almost fuckin’ died.”

“The fuck was that?”

Steve let go, leaning back in his chair to give Bucky an incredulous stare, “That’s Hawkeye. Buck, he’s not allowed in the infrastructure here and knows that, doesn’t he?”

Bucky pursed his lips, clicked his tongue and stood, keeping his eyes on the ceiling as he paced the room. Sam gathered Scott up in his arms, the limp form clinging to his chest as he shuffled to the door.

“Captain, we’ve got to head back, I assume you’ll come on your own?” Steve gave a curt nod.

Natasha followed close behind Sam with the rest of the fruit, peeling an orange with her teeth. Thor grumbled but joined the entourage, standing slowly as Bruce wrapped his limbs around the God’s body, throwing Tony a thumbs up and holding the doctor up easily. 

“We will see you both at home. We’ve been away for long enough, our people wish for your safe return, Young Tony.” Thor said with a warm smile, the last to leave aside from Bucky.

The Soldier stood firmly under one spot, waiting patiently until the ceiling collapsed and a purple mass fell. Clint was captured in the man’s iron grip, thrown over a shoulder, held by his legs and lower back. Bucky made a hissing sound when Hawkeye thrashed and complained about losing his spot, the soldier managing to close the door softly behind them.

Tony watched the team amble out of the door, smile fading a bit as he was struck with the realization that he and Steve were truly alone.

Tony turned to face the Captain, “Do they actually miss me or is Thor just trying to make me feel better?”

“We need to talk.”

“Never a good thing to hear. Have pity on an injured man, we can talk when I’m all better.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “You can’t stall this, I already know.”

Eyes burning, Tony turned his head to stare at the empty bed next to his. “I know you know. I know. I just don’t want to know what comes next.

“I don’t want to hear you reject me or try and explain why you can’t be with a Stark, I just don’t want to talk. About. It.”

Tony’s fists clenched, wringing the blanket at his chest, eyes focusing on the leftover oranges on the adjoining bed. Another sigh came from his right, the shuffle of clothing following, falling to the ground.

“Tony, look at me,” Biting his lip, he turned his eyes to meet the voice. The captain was stripped away, no steely exterior, no armor, nothing covering his soulmark, complete vulnerability. Steve held his arms out, exposing his chest, and if it were not for the softness of his blue eyes Tony would have taken it as a challenge. His mark took a shine to it, like it was glowing in pride, finally seen.

Tony’s arm reached for it without his permission, fingertips hovering over it. His eyes darted up, finding Steve’s permission, dragging his pads over firm skin. The touch developed, palm flat over the mark and rubbing the edge with his thumb, feeling the unnatural heat radiate out. Fingers ran up his wrist, Steve pressing his hand flat over his heart with Tony’s trapped underneath, each beat tapping through him to his own heart until the two matched.

“I'm not rejecting you,” Steve rumbled, leaning over him to brush Tony’s hair off his forehead with his free hand. “A difficult start does not mean the end of things.”

Hand over heart, Tony’s cheeks flushed as the other leaned in, pressing their foreheads together.

“Stay with me, your father can’t touch the North, I’ll make sure of it.” Tony shut his eyes, savoring the way his body lit up in proximity with another person.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOO! One more chapter, which I think I might aim for 5k on, and then this story concludes  
> I've been entertaining the idea of adding little prequels or extra stories, in a series  
> Butttt I think we'll just have to see how things turn out  
> Thank you so much for reading so far, I appreciate every commment and kudos <3 <3


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